Item 5 - PH on Laurel Hill Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

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JOHNSON, CLIFTON, LARSON & SCHALLER, P.C. ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW ARTHUR C. JOHNSON JACOB K. CLIFTON, JR. 975 OAK STREET, SUITE 1050 RICHARD L. LARSON FAX: (541) 349-5098 RICHARD L. LARSON EUGENE, OREGON 97401-3176 E-Maih rlarson~jclc.com DOUGLAS G. SCHALLER DEREK C. JOHNSON** (541) 484-2434 -- DENNIS M. GERL* DARLENE RUIZ MARILYN A. HEIKEN Legal Assistant SCOTT C. LUCAS E-Maih druiz@jclc.com JAMES E. BEARD M,CHELE C. SM,T.__ ItECEIVED PUBLI[ HEARING **AIsc Member California and Washington Bars ' AISC Member California Bar ~ ~ ~ September 14, 2004 FILE NO: '~A ~'7 I PATRICIA THOMAS CITY OF EUGENE PLANNING DIVISION 99 West 10th Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97401 Re: RA 04-1, Z 04-4 Dear Ms. Thomas: I am an attorney in private practice and I have been working with Don Furtick and Charles Larson in connection with their commercially zoned properties near the Glenwood Interchange as well as the parcel at the northeast comer of Laurel Hill Drive and Moon Mountain Drive, that they are seeking to develop for commercial purposes. In connection with this representation, I have received two unsolicited purchase offers from competing parties. While I am not at liberty to disclose the identity of the purchasers or the prices offered, both offers involve a purchase with the intention to develop a two-story motel on the property. While the transmission towers are certainly a design constraint, both of the potential purchasers believe that they could site their structure on the parcel and use the property underneath the transmission lines for parking and landscaping. Both of these offers were made almost a year ago, and before formal application was made to the Eugene Planning Commission for the change of zoning and amendment to the Laurel Hill Plan. Since my client also owns other commercial properties in the area, I inquired through their realtors whether they would be willing to explore acquisition of a parcel nearby. In both cases, the response was negative. The visibility to the freeway, the compact size, and the direct access to the Interchange were cited as making this site superior for their purposes. Given the topography of the land, a two-story building would be barely visible, if at all from residences in the neighborhood. The towers are at least twice as high. While high transmission lines are certainly a design impediment, the transmission lines at Gateway did not prevent the construction of the Red Lion / Double Tree or the Shilo as well as other commercial structures in the Gateway area. Your record shows that there is no feasible way to use this property for R-1 purposes. There has been significant interest in using this specific parcel for commercial purposes. The specific IV-32